The present invention relates to manufacturing methods used to provide desired surface finishes to anodized metal cosmetic cases.
The cosmetic industry serves a range of markets, from young teenagers to older, more mature customers. In the more upscale markets it is desirable for the cosmetic packaging to project elegance and sophistication, particularly where the product is priced at a relatively high price point. Historically, silver plated packaging has been used to provide the appearance of elegance in many applications such as lipstick cases or caps, and compacts. In such packaging, the case has been manufactured from brass; the case is then polished, and texture is applied to raised areas in the case. For example, a lipstick cap may be formed having a series of alternating horizontal bands and channels along the height of the case, and a finely textured series of ridges can be applied; to the outer surfaces of the horizontal bands. The product is then silver plated and lacquered. The resulting product has an elegant appearance, with a contrast between the brighter silver plate in the channels, and the duller silver plate on the textured bands. The difference in appearance is due to the thinness of the silver plate and/or the capture of the lacquer in the textured areas.
Recently, in an effort to provide a lower cost alternative to silver plated cosmetic cases, a number of products have been developed that emulate the brightness of silver plate, but which use lower cost components. For example, lipstick cases have been fabricated from aluminum, and they have been anodized with a silver tinted finish. These products provide an attractive bright silver look to the cosmetic case. However, this substitute process is not usable where a contrast is desired between a smooth metal area and a textured metal area. This is because the anodizing process provides a product with a uniform brightness; in other words, both the smooth metal and the textured metal are equally shiny. Unlike in conventional silver plating processes where the smooth metal is bright and shiny, and the textured metal has a duller shine, the anodized product is very bright and shiny over its entire surface.
It would be desirable to provide a method for fabrication of anodized metal components to provide a brightness contrast between smooth metal areas and textured metal areas.
The present invention provides a method for manufacture of a cosmetic case, comprising the steps of: fabricating a cosmetic case from aluminum alloy; including polishing the cosmetic case and applying a surface texture to portions of the cosmetic case to form textured portions thereon; anodizing the cosmetic case to provide a bright shine to at least the outer surface of the cosmetic case; and printing over the textured portions with an ink to provide the textured portions with a contrasting finish to the bright shine of the outer surface of the cosmetic case. The ink is preferably a translucent matte ink.
In the preferred embodiment, the cosmetic case comprises a cap for a lipstick dispenser; most preferably the cap""s outer surface is provided with smooth channels alternating with textured bands.